Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Mo Lan and the others finished their meal peacefully. Madam Feng and Madam Cui did not come looking for them. It seems that Da Lang did not mention that Mo Lan had hit his hand when he returned home, otherwise, given their tempers, they would have definitely come and made a scene.

After cleaning up the dishes, Mo Lan took Xiao San'er to dig up dandelions. She planned to make some dandelion tea for everyone that evening, as it was good for reducing inflammation and internal heat.

***************

Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and the busy work of transplanting rice seedlings was finally over. Mo Changhe went to help Qiu's family at their parents' home, while Mo Quan was running around the village, busy with the purchase of those ten acres of land. He hoped to get the land deeds done soon so they could start construction as soon as possible.

Mo Lan was standing in front of the ten acres of land she had her eye on. The land at the far end of the road was an empty plot, a bit small to make a yard. Next to it was a vegetable garden, some of which had to be destroyed. The ones on both sides didn't need to be destroyed. She would decide what to plant next year after the harvest.

Behind the vegetable garden was a wheat field. It looked like some wheat would have to be destroyed, and Mo Lan felt a pang of heartache. Grain was the farmers' hard work, and if it wasn't destroyed, there wouldn't be enough to build houses. Luckily, judging by the area, destroying about half an acre would probably be enough; they could buy the rest and continue planting. When the time came, the shop wouldn't need to buy flour anymore. They could just harvest the wheat themselves and grind it to have enough.

"Why did Lan girl run here?" Mo Lan was lost in thought when a familiar voice suddenly came to her ears.

She turned her head and saw that it was her grandfather leading the local constable. She quickly put on a smile and greeted them.

“Nephew, look, that’s the land in the very back, that’s Da Fa’s. He has four mu of land there. I wanted to buy one mu, but he said he’s selling all four together, and it costs ten taels of silver per mu. Isn’t that a rip-off? Where can you find land this expensive?” Mo Quan said to Liu Dingzi, the local headman, pointing to the wheat field in the distance.

“Uncle, you’re right. Dafa’s asking price is outrageous. It’s not worth ten taels of silver. Let’s not buy it from him. Let’s see if he has any good intentions.” The local constable nodded and agreed with Mo Quan.

“Yes, everyone here has agreed to sell, except for his. What my nephew said makes sense. We don’t need his one acre of land, so we won’t buy it. The nine acres have all been negotiated, but I’ll have to trouble my nephew to get the land deeds done as soon as possible. I’ll definitely come to thank you in person when the time comes.” Mo Quan chuckled.

"Uncle, what are you saying? We live in the same village, no need to be so polite. But Uncle, if I may ask, why did you buy so much land? It adds up to several tens of taels of silver. Did you really make a fortune?" The local official was clearly very curious, his eyes gleaming as he asked Mo Quan.

"To be honest, nephew, we bought this for someone else. They provided the money, and we just ran the errands for them." Mo Quan's words were all things they had discussed at home.

"Oh, is that so? Who has this money? Tell us, Uncle." The local constable wasn't giving up and continued to ask.

"They're a wealthy family in town. They took a liking to my family's food-making skills and wanted to open a shop here. That's why they gave us money to help out," Mo Quan said, half-jokingly.

"Open a food stall here? Uncle, will anyone come if you open a food stall here? You might end up losing a lot of money." The local constable frowned, clearly not optimistic about the business.

“Who says otherwise? How could we possibly understand what those big shots are thinking? But they don’t care about losing money, so we’ll just do our best for them. They provide the money, and we’ll provide the effort. But nephew, you have to keep this a secret for your uncle, they forbid us from telling anyone.” Mo Quan finished speaking and sighed.

"Uncle is right. We'll handle it properly for them. Don't worry, Uncle, I promise I won't tell anyone. I reckon the land deed will be ready in a couple of days, and I'll deliver it to you then," the land steward assured him, patting his chest.

"I'm really sorry to trouble you, nephew. I'll definitely have to thank you properly. If the food stall goes ahead, I'll need your help a lot." Mo Quan said with a smile, expressing his gratitude.

The local constable exchanged a few more polite words, then turned and left.

Mo Lan tugged at her grandfather's clothes as they walked back, chatting as they went.

************

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye. Nothing major has happened during this time, but there have been many trivial matters, such as Erlang starting school, the shops and houses being built in full swing, and the well and vegetable cellar being dug.

For example, Mo Lan accompanied Mo Changhe to the town many times to look at tables, chairs, benches, pots, pans, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings. They also searched for suitable meat stalls to prepare for the shop.

When building the house, many people were hired, and many villagers came to help. The Mo family treated them well, putting fatty meat in almost every meal they made. They paid them every day, so everyone who came to help praised them and worked very hard, which led to the house being built very quickly.

Of course, there were also those who took advantage of the situation. Some lazybones, having heard that the food at the Mo family's place was good and they were paid, would come and offer to help. They would carry a brick for half a day and then help you mix the mud. Only when it was time to eat would they put in all their effort and eat with gusto.

I remember once a lazybones asked for his wages before leaving. Mo Lan smiled and held out her hand, saying to him, "Uncle Big Dog, was lunch good? Give me the money for lunch."

I remember that the big dog kept arguing that he had come to help with the work, so why wasn't he paid? Instead, he demanded money for lunch, which made everyone laugh at him. He slunk away.

What's funny is that he came again the next day. He managed to sneak in until lunchtime to collect his food from the big pot. Mo Lan wasn't annoyed at all. She smiled and reached out to him, saying, "Uncle Big Dog, pay first before you eat. Did you bring yesterday's food money with you?"

Amidst the laughter of the crowd, the big dog, having missed his lunch, grumbled and left. Mo Lan, however, left everyone with the impression of being shrewd and capable.

*************

"Mother, add a little more filling. We're selling steamed buns. If there's too little filling, people will feel cheated and won't buy them next time," Mo Lan said, looking at the steamed buns Qiu Shi had made.

"Alright, Mother is used to being careful. It's a little heartbreaking to wrap so much filling all at once." After hearing her daughter's words, Qiu added a little more filling.

Mo Lan watched her grandmother and mother making steamed buns, and her hands started itching to try it too. Today was their first time officially making steamed buns to sell. Although they had tried steaming them twice before and everyone said they were delicious, they were still a little nervous when it came to the actual process.

For example, she was worried that the amount of alkali used in the dough was too much or too little. Too much alkali would make the steamed buns turn yellow, while too little alkali would prevent them from rising properly and make them look unappetizing. So, after the dough had risen, when kneading it, Mo Lan first checked the holes after cutting it open. They were quite even, but she was still not reassured, so she asked her grandmother to burn a piece over a fire so she could smell and taste it.

I also tasted the filling of the buns, afraid that it was too salty or too bland. The oil I used was heated to boiling, and I had fried peppercorns and star anise in it, so it was considered flavorful oil, which was more flavorful than just adding oil directly.

The meat used was half lean and half fat. Qiu and Liu chopped it for a long time before it was finely chopped. When mixing the filling, Mo Lan didn't ask for water to be added, but instead added some bone broth, which smelled delicious.

Liu's hands were very skillful; she pinched the dough into even pieces, almost all the same size, and rolled out the dough quickly and evenly. In contrast, Qiu was a bit careless; the buns she made didn't look quite the same, some were shaped nicely, some were shaped ugly, and the filling wasn't mixed very evenly.

"Grandma, Mom, can I try too?" Mo Lan asked the two of them. Unlike modern times where children can play with noodles, this era was different. Here, letting children play with noodles was considered a waste of food and would shorten their lifespan, so most families wouldn't let their children do it.

"This is no joke. Even I can't wrap them properly. If Lan'er wants to learn, you can learn next time when we wrap them ourselves." Qiu Shi didn't agree. These buns were meant to be sold, and every one her daughter messed up was one less.

"If I mess it up, give it to Mother. Please let me try it, Mother," Mo Lan said with a grin, pleading with Qiu Shi.

"If you want to try, go ahead and give it a shot. If you can't wrap it well, you'll give up." Qiu glanced at Mo Lan and agreed. She thought to herself that if her daughter messed it up, she would eat less at noon as compensation for the noodles her daughter wasted.

"Oh, Mother is so good." Mo Lan responded excitedly. Her hands were clean, so she didn't need to wash them again. She picked up the dough and started stuffing the filling into it. After stuffing the filling, she first pinched a large fold, and then started pinching smaller folds along the way. Finally, she pinched them together, making the top round and the folds even and neat. The folds looked like blooming chrysanthemums.

"Lan'er, how did you manage to make these? They're even better than what your mother makes! Who taught you?" Qiu Shi exclaimed in amazement as she looked at the buns her daughter had made.

"Nobody taught me. I just saw you guys wrap them like this, so I wrapped them like this too." Mo Lan said, but secretly she was laughing to herself. In modern times, her mother-in-law often praised her for wrapping dumplings and buns so beautifully and that they were all the same size. She said she could open a restaurant and sell them. Her knife skills were also good; the way she cut vegetables made her mother-in-law and relatives give her a thumbs up.

In fact, Mo Lan was not satisfied with the buns she was making. She felt that her hands were not obedient, that they were not big enough, and that they were far inferior to those made in modern times.

"Lan'er is very skillful. Some people are born with exquisite craftsmanship, and the things they make are beautiful." Madam Wang praised, looking at the buns her granddaughter had made.

"Exquisite, excellent, exquisite! Lan'er is so skillful, it makes me happy. Unlike me, who works so carelessly and panting." Qiu Shi smiled happily, even happier than when she herself was praised.

"Alright, that's enough for one pot. Take the one on the lid to the side and let it rest for a while. Mei's water is almost boiled too. We'll steam it once the water boils." Seeing that the lid was full, Wang told her daughter-in-law to take it away first.

A little over fifteen minutes later, the steaming hot buns were ready. Mo Lan watched as her mother placed the large steamer basket on the cutting board beside her. She walked over, and the steam from the buns made her face a little blurry. Through the steam, she could see that the buns were quite large, not very white, and smelled a wonderful aroma. Mo Lan nodded. This was the natural color of the dough, without any chemical bleaching or powdering. The aroma was enticing, and it was healthy to eat.